Skin & Ink
by iamvamp
Summary: Welcome to Skin & Ink! Come on in...


**A/N: Not my characters, but I'll do with them what I will!**

**Skin & Ink.**

**One.**

**B****ella P.O.V. **

"Bells, you alright?" I heard Jake ask from beside me. I nodded my head quickly, unable to open my mouth to speak. I hated when I got to this state. I'd gone too long without my fix and I was starting to suffer. I kept my head down, thankful that my hair hid my face from everyone around me, Jake included.

He patted my shoulder twice in reassurance before resting back in his chair, he knew me too well to know that I'd lied to him. He knew I was reaching my limit.

"I'll take you by there on our way home. I'll have to leave you there though, I gota take my dad to a hospital appointment." He spoke quietly as the teacher ahead of the class rambled on about some great scientific breakthrough from thousands of years ago. I couldn't concentrate on his words, especially after Jake had told me he'd take me to where I needed to be.

I worked up the courage to move my hair to the side and shot him a quick smile, knowing he was waiting for a reaction for his offer. A beaming smile met my eyes before I hid away once more, feeling a bubble of hope within.

The rest of the lesson dragged on torturously, I couldn't help but watch the hands of my wrist watch tick aimlessly by until it neared the time that I could escape.

"Take it easy Bells." Jake whispered under his breath seconds before the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson. I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself but I couldn't help it. "Bells." He growled under his voice as he watched me fumbling with my bag, trying to free it from my chair which I'd managed to tangle it around.

I dropped my bag and took calm breaths as I watched Jake freeing my bag easily, ignoring the stares which I knew the rest of my classmates were shooting at me from behind my back. They always seemed uneasy around me, especially when I got into this kind of state, jittery, awkward and paranoid.

Jake lead me out of the room, his arm wrapped around me, his large hand rested on my shoulder as he directed me over to his bike. I hid in his side; revelling in his size and the fact that he could dwarf me, almost make me seem invisible by his gigantic proportions.

All the way to the shop I had my eyes closed, in part it was due to the terror of the speed Jake was driving and the other was that I was trying to figure out what I wanted. I knew to sort myself out this time I'd have to get a big fix. I'd tried to lengthen my visits this time yet again but I knew now that three months was my limit, anymore than that and I ended up a wreck like I was now.

Jake parked up outside the shop and helped me off his enormous bike. I pulled off his spare helmet and handed it to him so he could store it away as I fixed my unruly mane of brown hair, pulling it around my face to stay somewhat hidden and secure.

"'preciate it" I mumbled before I grabbed his large hand in mine and squeezed quickly in thanks to him before turning away and making my way toward the shop's front door, feeling the anxiety bubble low within me yet seeping away at the same time.

I needed this.

**Alice P****.O.V. **

I flipped through the magazine which sat on the counter before me, drooling over some of the images that stared back at me. They were all stunning and all original creations. I'd been dropping hints for the last couple of months to everyone in the shop, obvious fucking hints that I wanted an original from for my 25th birthday or all hell would break loose.

The chime of the door managed to tear my attention away from the beauty on the paper, my hungry eyes protested as I tore them away from their feasting of the images. I had a job to do here though and so I smiled before looking up at the patron who'd just walked in and interrupted me and my image drooling. To some people, heavily tattooed and modified people were scary and dangerous, so I put a smile on my face and found that it tended to relax the customers little more.

My smile slipped a little as I took in the person before me. She was small, obviously not as small as I was but still petite, probably only a few inches taller than I was. Her head was bowed down and her long brown hair curtained most of her face away, blocking her from me and anyone else that would care to look her way.

After a couple of seconds she took a few tentative steps forward, seeming to loosen up a little more with each step until she stood before me, on the other side of the counter and looked up, brown eyes like pools of swirling chocolate, pink cheeks that were like rose petals and plump lips which even I wouldn't be able to say no to on a night out after a few shots of good old Jack.

"Umm… hi, I'm Bella." the girl before me introduced herself, no doubt feeling the need to say something due to my staring and silence. I was never quiet, always loud and bouncy. This was fucked up for me.

I snapped out of my daze and returned to my usual demeanour, "Hi, welcome to Skin and Ink! I'm Alice." I held out my hand to her, glad that I sounded and felt normal once more. "What can we do for you Bella?" I asked as I glanced over her quickly, wondering if this was the first time she'd set food in a tattoo parlour.

"I need something." She sated, her hands were busy tangling with each other as she talked, a sign of unease. "I need something new. Something big." She said quietly before she stuck her hands into her pockets to still their frantic movements.

I nodded my head at her, knowing now that she must have got something done in the past, some ink or some metal in her. I wondered why she was so jittery. Was she like most of us here at the shop, craving to get more done and feeling like utter shit if we hadn't had a new piece of metal or a blob of new ink on our skin for a while?

"Come this way," I motioned toward the deep black leather sofa that was next to the shop's window where clients went to wait for one of us to get things set up or to figure out what design or piercing they wanted to get. "So are we thinking of a tattoo or a piercing today Bella?" I asked as I perched on the arm of the sofa, waiting eagerly for her reply.

"Ink I think." She said before shrugging her shoulders, "anything." She added, her eyes holding a slight hint of desperation and need.

She was like us, I could tell. She was probably feeling uneasy, awkward and probably a little paranoid as each day passed without any new kind of body modification. I remembered back to the last time I'd felt like she must be feeling now, I was almost stuck at home, paranoid that everyone was looking at me and talking about me behind my back. Luckily Edward had come over to look for me when I had been missing from the shop for three days and had pierced my tongue for me. I felt myself as soon as the needle passed through my tongue.

In the state she was in now, I knew she'd agree to anything just to feel like herself again. She'd probably end up with a stupid tramp stamp or a meaningless tattoo on her skin if I didn't intervene and help her out a little.

"I'll go and get Edward for you, I think he's free." I got up and made my way toward the back, hearing Emmett joking with one of his regulars through the partitioning curtains we had set up around the shop here and there for extra privacy if anyone requested it.

"Eddie? You back here?" I called as I opened the office door and walked in, his copper hair catching my attention straight away.

"It's Edward, Alice, not Eddie please." He said politely but with a bite in his voice, I only called him 'Eddie' to piss him off. "What did you want sprite? I was just going to head out for a while." He added as he shuffled some papers and put them into files and shut them away in his cabinet.

"Well I have someone for you in the shop. She really needs something done you know? She's almost as bad as I was." I poked my tongue out and pointed at my shiny piece of metal to make sure he understood my words. "I don't want her to walk out of here with something stupid. Can you help?" I asked, knowing Edward was a sucker for those who needed help. He was the definition of a Good Samaritan.

Edward looked a little shocked at my words but nodded his head and masked his expression before he followed me back out to the front of the shop, toward Bella.

She was sat tucked into the side of the sofa, her arms crossed before her and her back arched, looking as though she was trying to look as small as she could. I tip toed over to her and knelt at her side, smiling once more at her as she peeked over at me shyly; her small measure of confidence earlier had evaporated.

"Hey Bella." I said as I sat back on my heels and motioned toward Edward, "This is Edward, I'll leave you two to discuss what it is you wana get done today okay?" I asked, my eyes passing from Bella's slightly anxious face to Edwards who was surprisingly holding the same expression of anxiety as he looked down at Bella.

I flounced back to my station behind the counter and sat back, picking up my magazine as a prop as I casually peeked over toward Edward and Bella for the next twenty minutes. They took the time to discus what Bella wanted vs. what she needed. From the way Edward kept shaking his head every few sentences I gathered that Bella was thinking up some stupid desperate ideas to get inked on her skin, instead of something she actually wanted. I wondered how long it'd been for her since her last little fix as we called it in the shop. I knew myself that my limit was no more than 6months, but by working in the shop it kept me sane, I knew my limit would be at least half that if I wasn't surrounded by it as much as I was everyday.

Deciding that Edward and Bella had much to debate I went back to my magazine and continued to drool and dream over the images, counting down the days until my birthday. I knew it was very unlikely that my friends would have been able to get in touch with and get an appointment for me for my 25th but I couldn't help but hope. I knew I'd feel let down come next week when I finally found I had no appointment, but for now I would dream.

"Hey sprite," Edward's voice bought me back to reality moments later. He stood before me with Bella at his side. I smiled at the sight, they looked good together. My eyes flickered back and forth and I wondered if I could hook the two of them up. I smiled at the thought, knowing that Edward would freak if he found out I was planning anything. "Put Bella down for four thirty tomorrow." He added when he had some of my attention, unaware of my plotting mind. I raised one sleek eyebrow in question as I opened the appointment book and searched for a pencil. "Lip piercing." He stated, watching me write the appointment down.

Bella stood silently by; seeming a little calmer once more but I could still see the unease in her eyes. I glanced at her quickly and wondered how old she was. Clearly she'd had work done before, but she looked young and a touch innocent and it made me wonder.

I bit my lip as I closed the book but couldn't help asking, hoping that I didn't offend her, but at the same time knowing that I had to ask. "Hey, Bella." I called as she turned away to head out, "Just need to ask for the records, how old are you?" I asked as casually as I could, a smile on my face.

She turned back, opening her backpack as she did so and pulled out a piece of paper that looked a little warn, "I'm 17." She said, confirming my suspicions. A part of me sank at the thought of Edward now being unable to tattoo her, she was underage. "But I have this," she said as she stepped back toward me and help out a piece of paper. "I know it's not much, but his number is on the bottom, you can ring him if you like."

I took the paper from her hand, aware that Edward was making his way back over toward us. Scanning the words on the paper I read the supposed words of consent from her father with his signature on the bottom. I knew that this could easily had been done by her herself to get a tattoo but something about the name on the bottom tugged at my mind.

"Charlie Swan?" Edward read the name that was signed on the bottom of the paper, making me aware of him looming over me from my side. He looked over to Bella, "Chief Swan?" He asked as he looked from the paper in my hand to Bella and back once more.

Bella nodded, a slight blush coming to her cheeks as she bit her lip. "You can call him at the station, the numbers at the bottom." She said, looking a little nervous, perhaps at our silence and awed expression.

Nodding my head I picked up the phone while I head Edward speak, "I didn't know the Chief had a daughter, have you just recently moved here?" He asked as he folded the paper back up and passed it back to Bella.

"I moved here from Arizona a couple of weeks ago." She said, managing to look up at Edward for a few seconds before returning her gaze to the floor.

"Hello, Forks station." The voice on the end of the receiver caught my attention.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could have a quick word with Chief Swan please?" I asked, feeling a bubble of anxiousness bubbling in me by the thought of talking to the cops. I bit the corner of my lip, feeling nervous as though I'd committed a crime.

Seconds later a new voice spoke from the other end of the line, "This is Chief Swan, how can I help?" the voice spoke and I couldn't help but smile.

"Hi, I'm Alice. I have your daughter, Bella here and I just had a couple of questions to ask if that's okay?" I asked as my nervousness eased.

"Shit." My eyes rounded at the Chief's curse and I wondered what I'd said or if he'd stapled his hand to the table or something at the station. "All medications are fine for her, although if you give her gas and air she'll get giddy and that can cause you guys some problems if you have to treat her at the same time. She's prone to hyperventilation if she gets panicked so get a brown paper bag ready and if she sees blood she'll turn pale, if she smells it she'll pass out. I think that's all." Chief Swan finished, taking a deep breath, no doubt resting back in his chair and trying to calm himself.

"Thanks for that Chief, I think most of that will come in handy, but I'm not calling from the hospital. I'm Alice, from Skin and Ink, the tattoo shop in town." I paused, letting my words sink in before I continued, "Bella's here with us and she's shown us the consent paper you'd written. I just have to check up before we do anything sir."

A sigh sounded from the end of the line as well as a thanks to god before the Chief spoke, "She's definitely not injured?" He asked before continuing after my promise that Bella was in fine health, "She can have what she wants as long as she doesn't get any tattoos on her hands, neck, face or head. She knows the rules."

I smiled at Bella as I thanked Charlie and put the phone down, feeling touched that Charlie seemed to care so much about Bella and yet at the same was cool enough to let her do what she needed to do. It did make me wonder though how much of an accident pro Bella was if a quick call to the station made him panic like he did.

"Alight Bella baby, we'll see you tomorrow afternoon!" I grinned before she said her thanks and made her way out of the door and across the street. I didn't fail to notice Edward's eyes following her just as keenly as mine as she walked away.

**A/N: I needed to break away from writing Heaven in Forks and this idea had been in my head for a while and needed to be released****!**

**Let me know what you think and if you want me to continue or not please.**

**Diolch.**** iamvamp.**


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